A Passion for Diversity

Some people work at their jobs because they haveexecutive with senior level responsibility and
to make a living, and they get to expresssalary.Deb says her passion for diversity only
themselves after work. Some people have careerscontinues to grow. She was a founding member of
that they love, and have a hard time not takingthe Conference Board Workforce Council on
home their work with them when they go home.Diversity 13 years ago . "I have never been around
And then there are successful people in the diversityanything else that keeps me stimulated 24 hours a
field. They have a passion for diversity and they liveday. I rarely read anything that is not in the field. I
their work. Whether or not they take their workhave a global vision and I want to help create the
home with them, their work is always driven by thekind of world that does not just tolerate differences,
values they live every day, and their lives are drivenbut one where people are truly respectful and
by the values they promote at work.Wheninclusive of other s, the kind of world that is healthy
organizations began to embrace diversity in thefor our children."Edgar Quiroz is the Director of
1980s, many of them thought that diversity trainingWorkforce Diversity at Kaiser Permanente's National
was the answer. They thought that if everyDiversity Department. He told me, "I really never
employee attended a diversity training class, biases,sought to get involved with diversity work, diversity
complaints and lawsuits would disappear andwork got involved with me." He grew up in San
everyone would work together in harmony forever.Francisco in a diverse neighborhood with
There were two kinds of people engaged in diversityAfrican-Americans, Asians, Caucasians and Latinos like
training, education and organizational development.himself. While attending high school in the 1970s he
There were those who thought of it as program orwas active in community student leadership. "I
a trend. These people read a few books, took aorganized youth in under served communities city
train-the-trainer class or bought one in the mail andwide to help them with jobs, careers, and educational
called themselves experts. The second group knewenhancement. Not one of my past job descriptions
that it was a process, not a one day program andever included diversity as a duty, but I always
that in order to create change they needed to live it,managed to weave diversity work into my functions.
learn it and continually develop their passion for it.As a boy, my father and I walked the picket lines
They were cognizant of the need to integratewith Cesar Chavez in support of the UFW." He began
diversity into the business strategy of anyworking at SF General Hospital as a youth outreach
organization and the rest of their lives. They alsoworker. "I worked with young people who were
knew there were no quick fixes-that it tookhomeless, drug and alcohol addicted, prostitutes,
patience, and time-but change was possible.The firstbattered and abused.Today Edgar says he is
group lost interest and went on to something elseprivileged to be the Director of Workforce Diversity
but people in the second group are still here helpingfor Kaiser Permanente where he has worked for 20
to create change They're working to create inclusiveyears. During this time he was a founding board
environments where all people can do their bestmember and past president of the Kaiser
work and have their individual skills and talents,Permanente Latino Association. "I chose Kaiser
recognized, appreciated and utilized.I wanted to knowPermanente because their social mission on
more about this passion for diversity and where itcommunity wellnes, diversity and cultural competency
came from. What drives some individuals to maintainare aligned with my own. My primary three areas of
their personal mission, vision and values despiteinvolvement are: 1) Enhance the diversity, cultural
resistance, challenges and nay sayers. I interviewedcompetence, skill and performance of our workforce;
four people whose passion for diversity is so great2) Provide culturally competent medical care and
it's like a magnetic force that continues to getculturally appropriate service to improve the health
stronger and attract everything in its path. Theseand satisfaction of our increasing diversity
four people are Terry Howard, Director of Diversitymembership; 3) Grow our membership through
for Texas Instruments; Michele Atlas fromeffective market segmentation approaches that
Workforce Diversity Network; Deb Dagit, Executivetarget specific populations which are the fastest
Diversity Director at Merck; and, Edgar Quiroz,growing segments of our society".Diversity impacts
Director of Strategic Initiatives and Innovation athis personal life every day. His family is bi-racial, and it
Kaiser Permanente.I asked all of them, Why did youis important to him that they all know, embrace and
get involved in diversity? Here are their stories:Terrycelebrate both his Latino culture and the
Howard, Director of Diversity at Texas Instruments,African-American culture. "My passion for diversity
has a long-standing and personal connection withhas increased to a point that far exceeded any of
diversity. "As an African-American male, I've beenmy expectations. It's only gotten better and I
involved in and experienced diversity my entire life.maintain my lifetime relationships with mentors and
From a career standpoint, I actually got involved incolleagues. I love my work, and there is a lot more
this work by 'default.' During the mid 1980s, Iwork to do. As a country we have to pay more
managed a group charged with deliveringattention to populations that have been ignored so
employment and EEO service for AT&T. Our clientmore people have access to quality health care. I
base was very diverse and that itself heightened myremain optimistic and hopeful. I am inspired by all
interest in this work. The challenge of fosteringothers who are also working for change."Michelle
awareness of that growing diversity and leveraging itAtlas began her career in Vocational Rehabilitation in
was most intriguing to me. In 1986, I read theRochester, New York over 13 years ago. Seven
Hudson Institute report Workforce 2000. This ignitedyears ago, she was hired by the Rochester Business
me and I knew I wanted to help break newAlliance to create a new program to provide
ground."Terry's passion and his involvement inemployment services to people with disabilities. After
diversity continue to grow. He now supports 15the first year, she was asked to represent the
diversity affinity groups at Texas Instruments, asRochester Business Alliance at the Workforce
well as the many business level diversity committeesDiversity Network, an organization whose mission is
and their annual diversity conferences. "In between, Ito create a nationwide learning network to support
write a monthly internal diversity column and issueorganizations in learning more about the benefits of
periodic diversity tips on the full range of diversitydiversity in the workplace, and is expanding to other
topics, and I speak on diversity and inclusion atareas in the USA "I didn't know a lot about other
meetings and retreats internally and externally ."areas of diversity beyond disability, but as I began to
Recently he founded the Diversity Connectionlearn about all the other dimensions, diversity and
Symposium for Texas Diversity Professionals, ainclusion became so important to me and I kept
group consisting of representatives from Shell Oil,learning and expanding my knowledge base about
Price Waterhouse, First American, Intel, Intuit, JCevery component." As a representative, Michele got
Penny, Delotte and others and delivered talks into meet diversity leadership in various kinds of
France and China. He takes his passion for diversityorganizations. She learned more about diversity
and inclusion to the community, having participated ininitiatives and issues that organizations were dealing
a community march against hate. "One of the thingswith. "I felt a very strong affinity for this work. I
I'm most proud of is my role in the successfulwent from being a representative to the Diversity
integration of religion and faith in the workplace amidWorkforce Network to serving on the board and
lots of skepticism." He said that people were stillbecoming a part time staff member; working with
talking about the standing room only session "Whenthe Executive director, and coordinating membership
Traditional Religion Meets Sexual Orientation". Whenand organizing our national conference. I love the
asked what drives him his reply was, "My passion isspirit of the other people who do this kind of work.
driven by my curiosity about the far-reachingMy passion comes from being a part of something
implications of diversity and getting organizations tothat is so good for the world at so many levels. I'm
see that connection. It never stops."Deb Dagit,excited by other cultures, and I am part of an
Executive Director of Diversity for Merck, told meincredible program called the Mosaic Partnership
that she had lived months at a time from when shewhere leaders in our region are partnered with
was 11 to 16 in the Shriners Hospital to receivesomeone from a different race and participate in
treatment for a bone condition that resulted ingroup coaching sessions."Michelle talked about how
fractures and bone deformities. She was there withcrucial it is for people in the health care field to be
other children who had bone and burn disabilities fromculturally competent. Besides her part time work with
all over the world. "I became close to kids from allWDN, she consults, coaches and trains people who
over the world who were also living in the hospitalemploy people with disabilities to be more culturally
for months at a time, cut off from families andcompetent. "My learning points have been to honestly
"normal" life . I learned what we had in common wasassess my own biases and to then be able to help
more significant than what was different, regardlessother people assess their own and feel safe. Learning
of our cultural differences."During the time she spentabout my own biases has been very liberating and
in public school she was separated from the rest ofother people I work with have said that it is true for
her class as schools were not required to integratethem. If we want to move forward from diversity to
children with disabilities and therefore there wereinclusion we have to identify our subtle biases and
many restrictions on how she was allowed to attend.work through them. I hope I never stop
She had to sit right next to the teacher's desk andlearning."Although these four individuals are from
was not allowed to go to recess or lunch with thedifferent industries and came to diversity work from
other kids. In describing her experiences she says,different experiences and backgrounds, they share
"Because of how I was treated, I related to othercertain qualities and experiences that contribute to
kids who were also seen as needing extra attentiontheir passion for diversity. From Deb's voracious
from the teacher, whether for behavioral issues orreading of diversity books to Michele's personal
learning challenges . Issues of fairness, respect andinvolvement with the Mosaic Partnership, we see that
inclusion became very important to me as I observedthese four remarkable individuals have all cultivated
who was singled out and how this caused them tolifestyles that support their passion for diversity.
be treated by other members of the class ." AfterThey live and breathe diversity-both coming from
graduation, Dagit tutored people who immigrateddiverse backgrounds and seeking out diverse
from Vietnam after the war. She saw how theyinteractions and experiences. They have all adopted
struggled to learn the language, culture, and to fit inlearning orientations so they can continue to develop
with other kids.She explained that there is atheir own cultural competence and help others to do
disproportionate number of people with disabilitiesthe same. Moreover, as we saw with Edgar's work
who are veterans and who are from minoritywith underserved communities and Terry's work with
backgrounds for a variety of reasons , and that"Traditional Religion Meets Sexual Orientation" in the
along with diversity issues amongst people withworkplace, the passion of these four diversity
disabilities who come from different backgrounds,leaders is driven by a lot of 'Cs': courage, concern,
there are diversity issues around different types ofand commitment to diversity initiatives. Be it Terry's
disabilities. "Some disabilities are more stigmatized thancommitment to helping organizations understand the
others," she noted.Her experiences inspired her toimplications of diversity, Deb's global goals for a
become a diversity leader. She traveled tobetter world, Edgar's views on what this country
Washington DC and spoke to lawmakers about theneeds to better meet the health needs of its diverse
importance of passing the ADA and fought againstpopulation, or Michele's emphasis on breaking down
weakening amendments . "During that time I thoughtbarriers through helping people safely address their
about struggles and victories like Brown vs. the Boardown biases, this is truly a visionary group of
of Education and the Voting Rights Act, and theprofessionals. Most importantly, their visions are
importance of civil rights for all people. Thislong-term, powerful, and important ones that they
experience also caused her to realize the importanceconsistently move forward a day at a time. These
of 'reasonable accommodation' for all employees as aare the kinds of diversity leaders that we need
foundation for what are now called 'workworking in rganizations of all kinds.For an organization
environment' initiatives.""In my first corporate job outto successfully leverage the diversity of its
of college I was told very matter of factly that Iorganization to improve its performance three
would never get beyond an 8 or 9 dollar and hourconcurrent imperatives must be in place. First,
entry level job. After about 5-6 years I began todiversity must be part of your overall business
realize that they were serious about this low ceiling,strategy and, secondly, your organization must move
so l left the corporate world for four years and Ifrom representation and numbers to inclusion at
worked in the non-profit sector primarily on disabilityevery level. Finally, you will only be successful if you
issues . As comfortable and engaging as it was to bebring in diversity leaders who not only have
with my "tribe," I knew that to effect real systemicknowledge of but a passion for diversity.Simma
changes more broadly. it needed to be from theLieberman is a consultant and speaker who helps
inside out, companies nee d to see diversity andorganizations create more profitable cultures. She
inclusion as important to the success of their businessspecializes in Diversity and Inclusion, Gender
and consistent with the workplace ethics andCommunication and Power Living. Contact Simma to
corporate social responsibility values the espouse.help your organization and the people in it be more
When I re-entered the private sector it was as ansuccessful.